audit of the human resources master plan 2011 vÉrification...

Office of the Auditor General / Bureau du vérificateur général

AUDIT OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES MASTER PLAN

2011

VÉRIFICATION DU PLAN DIRECTEUR DES

RESSOURCES HUMAINES

Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan

Office of the Auditor General 2011Annual Report

Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... i RÉSUMÉ ................................................................................................................................. xi 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 2 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 1 3 AUDIT SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................... 3 4 APPROACH ...................................................................................................................... 5 5 DETAILED FINDINGS, OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............ 5 6 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 17 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................................... 17


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction The Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan was included in the 2011 Audit Plan of the Office of the Auditor General, approved by Council on April 13, 2011.

Background The City of Ottawa is a large and diversified business, and is responsible for the provision of a variety of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws, and is committed to excellence in delivery of these services. Over the past 10 years, the City of Ottawa has undergone significant change as a result of municipal amalgamation and in its ongoing efforts to optimize service delivery to the citizens of Ottawa. In this regard, the City’s management practices, including human resources management, are also contextually evolving to meet more sophisticated policy and administrative requirements.

In support of the delivery of the City’s mandate is a large and committed workforce, dispersed across a complex organization with unique departmental business units. A key priority for the City of Ottawa is attracting and retaining a diverse skill set of the right employees to deliver these services. This priority is a key imperative for the City over the longer term with:

• The implementation of a number of large-scale strategic initiatives (e.g., “Service Ottawa”, Light Rail Transit, etc.);

• An aging workforce (e.g., approximately 12% of the total workforce, and 24% of the management group, are eligible to retire within the next 5 years); and,

• An increasing need for specialized skill sets and competencies. As a result, Human Resources strategy and workforce planning are becoming important management and operational practices.

With this context in mind, the Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan, contemporarily referred to as workforce planning, has been undertaken to identify strengths of the City of Ottawa’s current workforce planning processes, as well as to identify areas for improvement. Human Resources Master Planning encompasses the City’s approach, processes, and enabling methods and tools to quantitatively and qualitatively plan and monitor the City of Ottawa’s current and projected human resources needs. Human Resources Master Planning is not to be confused with the City of Ottawa Corporate People Plan, which is the City’s over-arching long term human resources strategy, of which workforce planning analysis is a core component.


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Audit Scope and Objectives The scope of the Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan included an examination of current workforce planning policies and practices; an assessment of these current practices against contextual requirements; and an assessment of the link between workforce planning and the overall budget process. Four unique departments were included within the scope of the audit fieldwork: Information Technology Services, Real Estate Partnership and Development Office, Transit Services, and Emergency and Protective Services.

The following framework was used as a basis for conducting the Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan. The framework consists of core integrated elements that provide a holistic view of foundational workforce planning.

Figure 1: Program Framework

Strategic Business Needs

and Context

Core Workforce Planning

Processes Outcomes

Program Governance and Leadership

Enabling Systems and Practices


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The table below provides an overview of the audit objectives associated with each of the elements within this model:

Audit Objectives

1. Program Governance and Leadership - Assess the clarity of roles and accountabilities of departmental managers and the Human Resources function in the workforce planning process, and related resource oversight and management of the process.

2. Strategic Business Needs and Context - Assess the extent of workforce planning integration/alignment with the broader organization’s strategic/business plan and priorities, including enterprise-wide talent priorities.

3. Core Workforce Planning Processes - Assess the tactical workforce planning processes:

i. Workforce analytics

ii. Resource forecasting

iii. Skill/role based forecasting for critical workforce segments

4. Outcomes - Assess the reporting on workforce data, the existence of plans to reconcile any gaps identified between the current workforce complement and future requirements and the integration of the results of the workforce planning activities to other Human Resources programs. (While this audit scope will review the linkages with respect to workforce planning, it will not include a review of the related Human Resources programs themselves.)

5. Enabling Systems and Practices - Assess the systems and practices that support and enable the workforce planning process. These include the Human Resources function, the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) and tools such as the Talent Scorecard, the budget and the Corporate People Plan.

Detailed audit criteria were developed and assessed in order to review each of the audit objectives.

Summary of Key Findings The primary means of information gathering was through interviews with Human Resources staff and management, Corporate Planning staff, and leadership and mid-managerial input from four unique departments: Information Technology Services, Real Estate Partnership and Development Office, Transit Services, and Emergency and Protective Services. Information was supplemented by a review and analysis of documentation where available.


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Based on information gathered, each of the audit criteria was assessed by the audit team and a conclusion for each related audit objective was determined. Results of the audit fieldwork include both observed strengths and areas for improvement concerning the workforce planning practices within the City of Ottawa and are summarized in the sections that follow.

Strengths Throughout the audit fieldwork, the audit team noted several examples of workforce planning strengths which are provided below (cross-referenced to the relevant audit objectives).

Audit Objectives

Strengths


• Based on interview discussions, roles and responsibilities related to annual workforce planning for the Human Resources function and the departments are well understood by both parties.

• A Client Relationship group within Human Resources includes Consultants who are assigned to be a liaison for all Human Resources-related matters to specific departments. This model provides departments with consistent and direct access to Human Resources expertise and engages Human Resources specialists as required depending on the nature of the departmental needs/requests.

Strategic Business Needs and Context

• The Corporate People Plan is a foundational document which provides analysis of Human Resources challenges and priorities over a time horizon aligned with the Term of Council. Broad internal and external workforce trends are identified at a “high-level” within the Corporate People Plan.

Core Workforce Planning Processes

• Short-term workforce planning in the context of the annual budget process is a formal and clear process for departments to identify their short-term workforce needs and to have these resource levels approved by Council.

• The City of Ottawa identified a need for longer-term succession planning, and has developed a process and enabling tools for departments to use in the creation of formal succession plans. Based on interview discussions, implementation of this process is in its early stages and varies by department.


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Audit Objectives

Strengths

Outcomes • Interviewees noted that department-specific initiatives have been developed to respond to mid and longer-term workforce needs (e.g., development of apprenticeship programs, encouragement of rotational assignments, etc.). Please note that this observation is based on anecdotal interview findings with a small sample of City departments.


• Interviewees noted that Corporate Human Resources is functionally emerging as a strategic and operational business partner recognized for value added responsiveness across both transactional and strategic services.

• The Human Resources Information System (HRIS) captures workforce information that is tracked and reported on a regular basis. For example, quarterly city-wide and department-specific Talent Scorecards are issued which include important metrics and demographic information. Based on interview discussions, Business Intelligence software is being implemented to enhance analytical sophistication, timeliness and access to this information (i.e., through Manager Self-Service).

Opportunities for Improvement The audit team has identified areas where workforce planning practices and processes could be improved. Three overarching areas for improvement were noted, namely:

1. Building on emerging tools and practices, there is an opportunity for Corporate Human Resources to provide a more prescriptive and integrated approach, including standardized methods and processes for medium and longer-term workforce planning. Furthermore, Human Resources should lead integrated workforce planning needs analysis across all departments, and the development of a City-wide long-term workforce plan.

2. Organization-wide workforce segment data (i.e., related to critical and “non-critical” workforce segments) should be more formally identified and analyzed for value-added scenario modeling and planning purposes.

3. Value-added analysis and reporting (e.g., based on HRIS information) are required to support longer term workforce planning. More robust analytical and reporting capabilities would serve to enhance regular information provided to departments about their current and future workforce needs, targets and results.


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Recommendations and Management Responses It is recommended that the City of Ottawa initiate the following practices to enhance its integrated and longer term workforce planning efforts and value added.

Recommendation 1 That Corporate Human Resources provide a more prescriptive and integrated approach, including standardized methods and processes, for medium and long-term workforce planning (i.e., three and five years). Fundamentals of workforce planning include: a) Matching strategic business requirements with long-term talent trends;

b) Analysis of external labour supply sources/demand influences; and,

c) Proactive planning that considers future skills and resources necessary to enable longer-term business plans.

Management Response Management agrees with this recommendation.

Further to the response to Recommendation 2, HR will develop an integrated workforce planning approach and templates for use by departments by the end of Q1 2013 as part of the Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework and fiscal planning process. The integrated approach will build on current processes being used for short-term workforce planning such as the annual budget process, the succession planning process of identifying critical positions, vacancy reports, and the utilization of the metrics on the Talent Scorecard. HR will ensure integration with the Corporate Planning Framework.

Recommendation 2 That the City implement mid and longer-term (i.e., three and five year) workforce planning at the departmental level, with departments taking ownership for the development of their mid and long-term workforce plans, supported by Human Resources.


The City has adopted an integrated Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework to define strategic priorities for the four-year Term of Council. The Framework includes the development of a City Strategic Plan and departmental plans that coincide with the Term of Council. These plans will influence multi-year staffing needs for departments and impact overall workforce planning for the corporation. Human Resources will support the departments in developing their workforce plans starting in Q2 2013 with a target completion date of Q4 2013.


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Recommendation 3 That Corporate Human Resources lead an integrated (i.e., City-wide) workforce planning needs analysis. This will feed into the development of a multi-year City-wide workforce plan that integrates anticipated workforce needs from across the organization. The plan should identify expected workforce requirements, together with plans for bridging any gaps (in the context of both growth and reduction/rationalization strategies) between the current state and anticipated future needs.


Working with departments, Human Resources will conduct an integrated workforce planning needs analysis as a component of the City’s integrated Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework as noted in the management response for Recommendation 2. One of the outcomes of the Framework will be departmental plans that will influence multi-year staffing needs for departments that will impact overall workforce planning for the City. The departments, as the business experts, must outline the service delivery risk areas. Human Resources will utilize the departmental input for the analysis that will identify risks and appropriate mitigation plans which will be completed by the end of Q2 2014. The analysis will provide an enterprise-wide view of workforce needs and mitigation strategies.

Recommendation 4 That Corporate Human Resources ensure all departments identify critical positions. Critical positions may be those broader than leadership positions that are also considered to be high impact and/or difficult to fill. (“Critical” workforce segments are the segments that have the greatest impact on the organization. They are typically highly skilled roles [and incumbents] that provide a disproportionate degree of value to the organization and are often hard to replace.)


City departments are in the process of developing succession plans with support from Human Resources. A key part of this process is identifying critical positions. Departments are currently conducting the assessment and will have completed the process by Q4 2012.


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Recommendation 5 That Corporate Human Resources “roll-up” the critical workforce segments identified by the departments so that the City of Ottawa has an integrated and enterprise-wide perspective on its critical workforce segments.


A database will be developed to capture a corporate-wide “roll up” of the critical positions identified by departments in 2012. The effort to create and maintain the database is currently being explored with the objective of completing the first roll-up by the end of Q2 2013.

Recommendation 6 That Corporate Human Resources analyze City-wide workforce segment data to gain insights and perspective on both “critical” and “non-critical” workforce segments to support value-added scenario modeling and planning. (“Non-critical” workforce segments represent the majority of the workforce complement, but compared to critical workforce segments, such roles are either easier to staff or have a lesser impact on organizational effectiveness.)


Currently workforce segments are considered in developing resourcing strategies and the Corporate People Plan. As noted in the response to Recommendation 5, Human Resources will have the capability to analyze “critical” and “non-critical” workforce segment data by the end of Q2 2013.

Recommendation 7 That Corporate Human Resources proactively and regularly conduct analysis of workforce planning data (both City-wide and department-specific).


Human Resources will continue to conduct analysis of workforce planning data on a regular basis. This is currently done with existing tools such as the vacancy reports, attrition reports, and the data provided on the Talent Scorecard(s). This will be supplemented with data once the formal workforce planning tools and process have been rolled out by the end of Q2 2013.


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Recommendation 8 That Corporate Human Resources provide management-level reports with workforce planning analysis and insights to support longer term workforce planning.


Once the process and templates have been developed and put into operation in Q2 2013, Human Resources will develop corporate and department level reports and will work with departments to put into place mitigation strategies for critical positions.

Recommendation 9 That Corporate Human Resources define and clarify a metrics framework for workforce planning with departmental management being responsible for determining applicable targets. The City should then be in a position to have access to related workforce planning performance reports, including variance analysis for practices such as position management, vacancy management, staffing, turnover/attrition planning and productivity analysis.


Many of the data/reports noted are currently provided to managers on a regular basis. As part of the development of the workforce planning framework and processes, Human Resources will work with the Corporate Business Services branch to develop a metrics framework by the end of Q1 2013, with an approach for departments to develop targets to maintain consistency with the Balanced Scorecard approach being used in the Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework.

Conclusion Building on contextual needs and emerging human resources management practices, there is an opportunity for the City of Ottawa to leverage existing strengths and to:

• Provide a more prescriptive and integrated approach, including standardized methods and processes for medium and longer-term workforce planning;

• More formally identify and analyze organization-wide workforce segment data (i.e., related to critical and “non-critical” workforce segments); and,

• Provide more value-added analysis and reporting to support longer term workforce planning.


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Acknowledgement We wish to express our appreciation for the cooperation and assistance afforded the audit team by management.

Vérification du Plan directeur des Ressources humaines

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RÉSUMÉ

Introduction La vérification du Plan directeur des Ressources humaines a été inscrite au Plan de vérification de 2011 du vérificateur général, approuvé par le Conseil, le 13 avril 2011.

Contexte La Ville d’Ottawa est une vaste entreprise diversifiée, qui est responsable de la prestation d’un grand éventail de services au public ainsi que de l’application des règlements municipaux. La Ville a pris un engagement ferme envers l’excellence de la prestation de ses services. Au cours des dix dernières années, la Ville d’Ottawa a entrepris d’importants changements découlant de la fusion des municipalités et dans ses efforts constants visant à optimiser la prestation des services à ses citoyens. À cet égard, les méthodes de gestion de la Ville, dont la gestion des ressources humaines, évoluent en fonction du contexte de manière à satisfaire des exigences administratives et stratégiques beaucoup plus complexes.

Afin de remplir son mandat, la Ville s’appuie sur un effectif important et dévoué, réparti au sein d’une organisation complexe, dotée d’unités fonctionnelles propres. L’une des principales priorités de la Ville d’Ottawa est d’attirer et de retenir les bons employés et le bon éventail de compétences pour assurer la prestation de ces services. En fait, cette priorité est un élément essentiel à long terme pour la Ville en ce qui a trait :

• à la mise en œuvre d’un certain nombre de grands projets stratégiques (p. ex., « Service Ottawa », le train léger sur rail, etc.);

• au vieillissement des effectifs (environ 12 % de l’ensemble des employés, et 24 % de l’équipe de direction seront admissibles à la retraite au cours des cinq prochaines années);

• à un besoin toujours croissant en compétences et habiletés spécialisées. En conséquence, il est de plus en plus important d’inclure l’élaboration de stratégies en matière de ressources humaines et la planification de la main-d’œuvre aux pratiques de gestion et de fonctionnement.

C’est dans cette optique que nous avons entrepris la vérification du Plan directeur des ressources humaines, ou encore de la planification de la main-d’œuvre, comme on aime désigner cette fonction à notre époque, afin de repérer les forces dans les processus de planification actuels de la Ville d’Ottawa ainsi que les secteurs à améliorer. La planification de l’ensemble des ressources humaines touche la démarche, les processus et les méthodes et outils habilitants en usage à la Ville afin de prévoir et de surveiller, tant sur le plan qualitatif que quantitatif, les besoins en ressources humaines de la ville, actuels et projetés. Il ne faut surtout pas confondre


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le plan directeur des ressources humaines avec le Plan des ressources humaines de la Ville d’Ottawa, qui énonce la stratégie globale à long terme de la Ville en matière de ressources humaines, et dont la planification de la main-d’œuvre est l’un des éléments principaux.

Objectifs et portée de la vérification La vérification du Plan directeur des ressources humaines a porté notamment sur l’examen des politiques et des méthodes actuelles qui servent à la planification de la main-d’œuvre et incluait une évaluation des pratiques actuelles par rapport aux exigences contextuelles ainsi que de la relation entre la planification de la main-d’œuvre et l’ensemble du processus budgétaire. Les travaux de vérification ont englobé quatre services individuels, soit les Services de la technologie de l’information, le Bureau des partenariats et du développement en immobilier, le Service de transport en commun et les Services de protection et d'urgence.

Le cadre de travail que nous vous présentons ci-dessous a servi de base dans l’exécution de la vérification du Plan directeur des Ressources humaines. Le cadre de travail est organisé en plusieurs éléments principaux intégrés et permet d’obtenir une vision globale de la planification de la main-d’œuvre fondamentale.

Figure 1 : Cadre de travail du programme

Besoins fonctionnels et contexte stratégiques

Principaux processus de

planification de la main-d’oeuvre

Résultats

Méthodes et systèmes habilitants

Gouvernance et direction du programme


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Le tableau ci-dessous résume les objectifs de la vérification associés à chacun des éléments de ce modèle :

Objectifs de la vérification

1. Gouvernance et direction du programme – Évaluer la définition des rôles et des responsabilités des gestionnaires de services et des responsables des ressources humaines dans le processus de planification de la main-d’œuvre et les fonctions connexes de supervision de ressources et de gestion des procédures.

2. Besoins fonctionnels et contexte stratégiques – Évaluer l’étendue de l’intégration des préceptes de la planification de la main-d’œuvre ainsi que leur conformité avec les priorités et les plans d’affaires et stratégiques de la Ville, incluant notamment les priorités en matière de compétences des effectifs pour l’ensemble de l’organisation municipale.

3. Principaux processus de planification de la main-d’œuvre – Évaluer les processus de planification tactique de la main-d’œuvre :

i. Analyse de la main-d’œuvre

ii. Prévisions des ressources humaines

iii. Prévisions axées sur les compétences et les rôles pour les secteurs critiques de la main-d’œuvre

4. Résultats – Évaluer la présentation des données concernant la main-d’œuvre, la présence de plans pour combler les lacunes éventuelles entre l’effectif actuel et les besoins futurs et l’intégration des résultats des activités de planification de la main-d’œuvre à d’autres programmes de ressources humaines. (Bien que la portée de la vérification compte examiner les diverses relations par rapport à la planification de la main-d’œuvre, les programmes des ressources humaines en soi ne font pas partie de cet examen.)

5. Méthodes et systèmes habilitants – Évaluer les méthodes et les systèmes qui sous-tendent et habilitent le processus de planification de la main-d’œuvre. Il s’agit notamment des employés qui assument des responsabilités touchant les ressources humaines, du système d'information sur les ressources humaines (SIRH) et de divers outils comme la carte de pointage des compétences, le budget et le Plan des ressources humaines municipal.

Nous avons élaboré et évalué des critères de vérification détaillés afin d’examiner chacun des objectifs de la vérification.


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Sommaire des constatations clés Globalement, pour la collecte d’information, nous avons procédé à des entretiens avec le personnel et la direction des Ressources humaines, ainsi que le personnel de Planification municipale, et nous avons également recueilli les commentaires des membres de la haute direction et des cadres moyens de quatre services individuels : le Service de la technologie de l’information, le Bureau des partenariats et du développement en immobilier, le Service de transport en commun et les Services de protection et d'urgence. Nous avons complété cette information recueillie par l’examen et l’analyse de la documentation disponible.

L’équipe de vérification a ensuite évalué chacun des critères d’évaluation en fonction des données rassemblées, puis a présenté les conclusions pour chacun des objectifs de la vérification. Les résultats des travaux de vérification ont permis de mettre en évidence les forces et les secteurs d’amélioration observés relativement aux méthodes de planification de la main-d’œuvre à la Ville d’Ottawa; ces observations sont résumées ci-dessous.

Forces Tout au long du travail de vérification, l’équipe de vérification a relevé plusieurs occurrences confirmant les forces du processus de planification de la main-d’œuvre, qui sont expliquées en détail dans le tableau ci-dessous en référence aux objectifs de vérification pertinents.


Forces

Gouvernance et direction du programme

• Selon les conclusions tirées des entretiens, les rôles et les responsabilités des responsables des ressources humaines et des divers services, en relation avec le processus annuel de planification de la main-d’œuvre, sont bien compris par les parties.

• Le groupe Relations avec la clientèle appartenant aux Ressources humaines comprend notamment dans ses rangs des conseillers qui ont pour tâche de servir de liaison avec les services désignés pour tout ce qui a trait aux ressources humaines. Ce modèle permet auxdits services d’avoir directement et constamment accès à l’expertise de professionnels en ressources humaines et de se prémunir des services de spécialistes en ressources humaines en fonction de la nature des besoins et des demandes du service.


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Forces

Contexte et besoins fonctionnels stratégiques

• Le Plan des ressources humaines municipal est un document fondamental dans lequel on retrouve notamment l’analyse des défis et des priorités des ressources humaines pour la période équivalente à celle du mandat du Conseil. Le Plan des ressources humaines municipal décrit les tendances internes et externes générales à un « haut niveau ».

Principaux processus de planification de la main-d’œuvre

• Dans le contexte du processus budgétaire annuel, la planification de la main-d’œuvre à court terme est une procédure officielle et clairement définie qui permet aux services de déterminer leurs besoins en effectifs à court terme et de faire approuver ces demandes par le Conseil.

• La Ville d’Ottawa a notamment relevé la nécessité d’organiser la planification de la relève à plus long terme et a élaboré un processus et des outils habilitants que les services peuvent utiliser pour la création de plans officiels de relève. D’après ce que nous avons appris au cours des entretiens, la mise en œuvre de ce processus est à ses débuts et varie en fonction des services.

Résultats • Les personnes rencontrées ont mentionné que les initiatives propres à chaque service ont été élaborées en prévision des besoins en effectifs à moyen et à long terme (p. ex., élaboration de programme d’apprentissage, incitation à la rotation des affectations, etc.). Il convient de souligner que cette observation est fondée sur des constatations anecdotiques tirées d’un petit échantillon de services municipaux.

Méthodes et systèmes habilitants

• Les personnes rencontrées ont mentionné que les ressources humaines à l’échelle de la ville s’imposaient graduellement comme un partenaire stratégique et opérationnel reconnu pour sa grande réceptivité dans l’ensemble des services stratégiques et transactionnels.

• Le système d'information sur les ressources humaines (SIRH) saisit l’information sur la main-d’œuvre qui fait l’objet d’un suivi et de rapports périodiques. Par exemple, des cartes de pointage des compétences sont émises tous les trimestres pour l’ensemble de la Ville et par service; elles présentent des mesures importantes et de l’information démographique. Selon les conclusions des entretiens, la Ville met actuellement en œuvre un logiciel de veille stratégique afin d’améliorer le degré de perfectionnement de l’analyse, la rapidité de diffusion de l’information et l’accès à cette information (c.-à-d. par l’entremise d’une application libre-service pour les gestionnaires).


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Possibilités d’amélioration L’équipe de vérification a ciblé des secteurs d’amélioration relativement aux processus et méthodes de planification de la main-d’œuvre. Trois secteurs essentiels d’amélioration ont été relevés, soit :

1. En misant sur l’utilisation des nouveaux outils et des méthodes émergentes, il y a une possibilité pour le groupe des Ressources humaines, de proposer une démarche intégrée plus normative; englobant notamment les méthodes et pratiques normalisées pour la planification à moyen et à long terme de la main-d’œuvre. En outre, le service des Ressources humaines devrait mener une analyse intégrée des besoins en planification de la main-d’œuvre pour l’ensemble des services, pour ensuite être en mesure d’élaborer à l’échelle de la ville un plan des ressources humaines à long terme.

2. Il faudrait répertorier de manière plus officielle les données sectorielles concernant les effectifs dans l’ensemble de la municipalité (c.-à-d. portant sur les catégories d’employés « critiques » et « non critiques ») et les analyser afin de créer des modèles de scénario améliorés, le tout en vue d’assurer une planification adéquate.

3. Il faut également procéder à l’analyse et à la présentation de rapports à valeur ajoutée (p. ex., fondés sur l’information du SIRH) qui soutiendront la planification de la main-d’œuvre à long terme. En se dotant de capacités analytiques et d’établissement de rapports plus robustes, il serait possible d’améliorer la qualité de l’information fournie aux services concernant leurs besoins en effectifs actuels et futurs, leurs objectifs et leurs résultats.

Recommandations et réponses de la direction Il est recommandé que les Ressources humaine de la Ville mettent en œuvre les méthodes suivantes pour améliorer et bonifier les efforts intégrés de planification de la main-d’œuvre à long terme de la Ville d’Ottawa.

Recommandation 1 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville proposent une démarche intégrée plus normative; englobant notamment les méthodes et pratiques normalisées pour la planification à moyen et à long terme de la main-d’œuvre (c.-à-d. de trois à cinq ans). Les principes de la planification de la main-d’œuvre sont notamment : a) Établir la correspondance entre les besoins stratégiques organisationnels et

les tendances à long terme en matière de compétences;

b) Effectuer l’analyse des bassins de main-d’œuvre extérieurs et des diverses influences sur la demande;

c) Effectuer une planification proactive qui prend en compte les compétences et ressources futures afin de créer des plans d’affaires à plus long terme.


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Réponse de la direction La direction est d’accord avec cette recommandation.

En complément de la réponse donnée à la Recommandation 2, les RH vont élaborer une démarche intégrée de planification de la main-d’œuvre accompagnée de modèles à l’intention des services. Ceux-ci pourront les utiliser d’ici la fin du 1er trimestre de 2013, dans le cadre du processus de planification fiscale, ainsi que du Cadre de planification municipale et d’évaluation du rendement.

La démarche intégrée misera sur les processus actuels de planification de la main-d’œuvre à court terme, comme la préparation du budget annuel, le processus de planification de la relève visant notamment à repérer les postes clés, les rapports sur le taux de postes vacants et l’utilisation de mesures dans la carte de pointage des compétences. Les RH veilleront à l’intégration au Cadre de planification municipal.

Recommandation 2 Que la Ville mette en œuvre un processus à moyen et à long terme (c.-à-d. de trois à cinq ans) de planification de la main-d’œuvre à l’échelle des services, de sorte que la responsabilité des plans d’effectifs à moyen et à long terme soit assumée par les services avec l’appui des Ressources humaines.


La Ville a adopté un Cadre de planification municipale et d’évaluation du rendement intégré afin notamment de définir les priorités stratégiques pour le mandat de quatre ans du Conseil. Ce cadre inclut l’élaboration d’un plan stratégique municipal et des plans pour chacun des services qui correspondent au mandat du Conseil. Ces plans influenceront les besoins pluriannuels en dotation des services et auront une incidence sur la planification de la main-d’œuvre pour l’ensemble de la municipalité. À compter du 2e trimestre de 2013, les Ressources humaines vont aider les services à élaborer leurs plans d’effectifs, avec une date butoir prévue au 4e trimestre de 2013.


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Recommandation 3 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville mènent une analyse intégrée (c.-à-d. à l’échelle de la Ville) des besoins en planification de la main-d’œuvre. Cette stratégie contribuera à l’élaboration d’un plan d’effectifs pluriannuel pour l’ensemble de la Ville qui prend en compte les besoins prévus en main-d’œuvre pour l’ensemble de l’organisation municipale. Le plan devrait déterminer les besoins en main-d’œuvre, et présenter des moyens pour combler tout écart (dans un contexte de stratégies axées à la fois sur la croissance et la réduction/rationalisation des effectifs) entre l’état actuel des besoins et les besoins futurs projetés.


De concert avec les services, les Ressources humaines vont procéder à une analyse intégrée des besoins en planification de la main-d’œuvre, composante du Cadre de planification municipale et de mesure de la performance intégré des services municipaux, comme nous l’avons mentionné dans la réponse à la Recommandation 2. Les plans élaborés par les services seront d’ailleurs l’un des résultats du Cadre; ils vont influencer les besoins en dotation pluriannuels qui auront une incidence sur la planification générale de la main-d’œuvre pour l’ensemble de la Ville. Les services, qui sont en fait les experts dans leur domaine, doivent définir les secteurs de risque pour la prestation des services. Les Ressources humaines vont utiliser les renseignements provenant de chacun des services pour procéder à une analyse visant à repérer les risques et les plans d’atténuation appropriés, laquelle sera achevée d’ici la fin du 2e trimestre de 2014. L’analyse procurera un aperçu des besoins en effectifs et des stratégies d’atténuation pour l’ensemble de l’organisation municipale.

Recommandation 4 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville veillent à ce que tous les services définissent les postes critiques. Les postes critiques ne sont pas seulement des postes de haute direction, mais sont des postes qui ont une conséquence élevée ou qui sont difficiles à pourvoir. (Les catégories « critiques » d’employés sont les catégories qui ont la plus grande incidence sur l’organisation. Il s’agit habituellement d’employés très qualifiés [et titularisés] qui jouent un rôle de valeur exceptionnelle pour l’organisation et sont souvent difficiles à remplacer.)


Rapport annuel 2011 du Bureau du vérificateur général Page xix


Les Services municipaux ont amorcé l’élaboration de leurs plans de relève avec l’aide des Ressources humaines. Un des éléments clés de ce processus est de cibler les postes critiques. À l’heure actuelle, les services effectuent cette évaluation et auront achevé le processus d’ici le 4e trimestre de 2012.

Recommandation 5 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville « synthétisent » les catégories critiques d’employés désignées par les services afin que la Ville d’Ottawa ait une perspective intégrée pour l’ensemble de la municipalité des diverses catégories critiques d’employés.


Nous allons créer une base de données où seront consignés les postes critiques de l’ensemble de la Ville désignés par les services en 2012. Nous étudions déjà les possibilités pour la création et la maintenance d’une base de données avec une date souhaitée pour la première synthèse d’ici la fin du 2e trimestre de 2013.

Recommandation 6 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville analysent les données relatives aux catégories d’employés pour l’ensemble de la Ville dans le but d’obtenir de l’information et une certaine perspective sur les catégories d’employés critiques et non critiques, en appui à la préparation de scénarios à valeur ajoutée et à la planification. (Les catégories d’employés non critiques représentent la majorité de l’effectif, mais comparativement aux catégories d’employés critiques, ces postes sont plus faciles à pourvoir ou ont une incidence moindre sur l’efficacité organisationnelle.)


Les catégories d’employés sont actuellement prises en compte dans l’élaboration des stratégies de ressourcement et du Plan des ressources humaines municipal. Comme il a été mentionné dans la réponse à la Recommandation 5, les Ressources humaines auront la capacité d’analyser les données concernant les catégories d’employés « critiques » et « non critiques » d’ici la fin du 2e trimestre de 2013.


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Recommandation 7 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville effectuent l’analyse régulière et proactive des données de planification de la main-d’œuvre (tant à l’échelle de la Ville que pour chaque service).


Les Ressources humaines vont continuer à effectuer l’analyse régulière des données de planification de la main-d’œuvre. Ce type d’analyse est actuellement réalisé au moyen des outils en place comme les rapports sur le taux de postes vacants, les rapports sur les taux d’attrition et les données fournies dans les cartes de pointage des compétences. Une fois qu’auront été déployés les outils et processus officiels de planification, les données qui en sont issues serviront à compléter cette analyse, soit à la fin du 2e trimestre de 2013.

Recommandation 8 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville fournissent des rapports à la direction contenant des analyses et de l’information sur la planification de la main-d’œuvre afin d’aider à la planification à plus long terme.


Une fois que le processus et les modèles auront été élaborés et mis en œuvre au 2e trimestre de 2013, les Ressources humaines vont élaborer des rapports portant sur l’ensemble de l’organisation municipale et sur les services et vont collaborer avec les services afin de mettre en place des stratégies d’atténuation pour les postes critiques.

Recommandation 9 Que les Ressources humaines de la Ville définissent et expliquent un cadre de mesure pour la planification de la main-d’œuvre en collaboration avec la direction des services chargée d’établir des objectifs applicables. La Ville devrait alors avoir accès aux rapports de rendement de la planification de la main-d’œuvre, notamment l’analyse des écarts pour des pratiques comme la gestion des postes, la gestion des postes vacants, la dotation, la planification du roulement et de l’attrition et l’analyse de la productivité.


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Une grande partie des données et des rapports mentionnés sont déjà fournis régulièrement aux gestionnaires. Au cours de l’élaboration du cadre et des processus de planification de la main-d’œuvre, les Ressources humaines vont collaborer avec la Direction service des affaires municipales afin d’élaborer, d’ici la fin du 1er trimestre de 2013, un cadre de mesure permettant aux services d’établir des cibles en vue de maintenir l’équilibre avec la démarche du bulletin de rendement équilibré utilisé dans le Cadre intégré de planification municipale et de mesure de la performance des services municipaux.

Conclusion En tenant compte des besoins contextuels et des nouvelles méthodes de gestion des ressources humaines, la Ville d’Ottawa a la possibilité de miser sur ses forces en place et de :

• De proposer une démarche intégrée plus normative; englobant notamment les méthodes et pratiques normalisées pour la planification à moyen et à long terme de la main-d’œuvre;

• De repérer et d’analyser de manière plus officielle les données sur les catégories d’employés pour l’ensemble de l’organisation municipale (c.-à-d., portant sur les catégories d’employés « critiques » et « non critiques »);

• De fournir des analyses et des rapports à valeur ajoutée pour soutenir la planification de la main-d’œuvre à plus long terme.

Remerciements Nous tenons à remercier la direction pour la coopération et l’assistance accordées à l’équipe de vérification.


Office of the Auditor General 2011 Annual Report Page 1

1 INTRODUCTION The Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan was included in the 2011 Audit Plan of the Office of the Auditor General, approved by Council on April 13, 2011.

2 BACKGROUND The City of Ottawa is a large and diversified business, and is responsible for the provision of a variety of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws, and is committed to excellence in delivery of these services. Over the past 10 years, the City of Ottawa has undergone significant change as a result of municipal amalgamation and in its ongoing efforts to optimize service delivery to the citizens of Ottawa. In this regard, the City’s management practices, including human resources management, are also contextually evolving to meet more sophisticated policy and administrative requirements.

In support of the delivery of the City’s mandate is a large and committed workforce, dispersed across a complex organization with unique departmental business units. A key priority for the City of Ottawa is attracting and retaining a diverse skill set of the right employees to deliver these services. This priority is a key imperative for the City over the longer term with:

• The implementation of a number of large-scale strategic initiatives (e.g., “Service Ottawa”, Light Rail Transit, etc.);

• An aging workforce (e.g., approximately 12% of the total workforce, and 24% of the management group, are eligible to retire within the next 5 years); and,

• An increasing need for specialized skill sets and competencies. As a result, Human Resources strategy and workforce planning are becoming important management and operational practices.

With this context in mind, the Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan, contemporarily referred to as workforce planning, has been undertaken to identify strengths of the City of Ottawa’s current workforce planning processes, as well as to identify areas for improvement. Human Resources Master Planning encompasses the City’s approach, processes, and enabling methods and tools to quantitatively and qualitatively plan and monitor the City of Ottawa’s current and projected human resources needs. Human Resources Master Planning is not to be confused with the City of Ottawa Corporate People Plan, which is the City’s over-arching long term human resources strategy, of which workforce planning is a core component.

2.1 Context Workforce planning needs to reflect the nature of the City’s business, the complexity of the workforce profile, and the strategic priorities determined by Council. As such, these considerations have framed the strategic context for an


Page 2 Office of the Auditor General 2011Annual Report

examination of the City’s workforce planning practices and the identification of possible opportunities for improvement.

Based on initial discussions with interview participants and a review of documentation provided in the planning stage, a number of additional contextual factors were identified:

• The significant impact that the annual budget planning process has on FTE planning and reporting is an important factor that impacts longer range planning and forecasting due to its focus on short-term planning.

• Council’s strategic policy process that aligns priority setting with the term of Council may hinder departments from longer-range planning as Council direction may shift with a change in Council.

• The City’s Corporate People Plan also provides an important reference point and highlights key risks and activities that need to be addressed over the long term. Examples include: – Risk of losing organizational knowledge over the next four years with

25% of the management team eligible for retirement; – Gaps in leadership skills need to be filled in order to implement the City’s

vision and achieve established priorities; – Persistent recruitment challenges in specific occupations may become

greater with a significant percentage of projected retirements in these areas;

– Limited availability of entry level jobs makes it difficult to build a solid base of talent; and,

– Persistent gaps in the representation of diverse groups in the workforce causes a decreased ability for the City to relate to its population.

2.2 Workforce Planning Overview Workforce planning involves proactively analyzing, forecasting and sourcing the talent that organizations need to execute their business strategy. It is a critical strategic activity, enabling the organization to identify, develop and sustain the workforce complement and skills it needs to successfully accomplish its strategic intent while balancing the career and lifestyle goals of its employees.

Benefits of workforce planning to the organization include:

• Workforce planning facilitates an organization’s ability to anticipate and plan for change. The process more effectively quantifies the talent requirements to meet business objectives over the short and long term, improving business planning and financial forecasts.

• Workforce planning drives the allocation of investment spending. For example, strategic planning using workforce planning tools can give insight



into which talent assets deliver the highest return on investment and warrant greater investment.

• The workforce planning process aligns Human Resources with corporate strategy, ensuring Human Resources policies and programs support the strategy.

Effective workforce planning cannot be done in isolation, as:

• Business strategy is a key driver of future talent requirements; • Internal and external factors affect the supply of qualified human resources;

and, • Other Talent Management programs play a key role in the realization of

workforce plans (e.g., recruitment and staffing, succession planning, etc.).

3 AUDIT SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES The scope of the Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan included an examination of current workforce planning policies and practices; an assessment of these current practices against contextual requirements; and, an assessment of the link between workforce planning and the overall budget process. Four unique departments were included within the scope of the audit fieldwork: Information Technology Services, Real Estate Partnership and Development Office, Transit Services, and Emergency and Protective Services.

The following framework was used as a basis for conducting the Audit of the Human Resources Master Plan. The framework consists of core integrated elements that provide a holistic view of foundational workforce planning.

Figure 1: Program Framework

Strategic Business Needs

and Context

Core Workforce Planning

Processes Outcomes





The table below provides an overview of the audit objectives associated with each of the elements within this model:

Audit Objectives

1. Program Governance and Leadership - Assess the clarity of roles and accountabilities of departmental managers and the Human Resources function in the workforce planning process, and related resource oversight and management of the process.

2. Strategic Business Needs and Context - Assess the extent of workforce planning integration/alignment with the broader organization’s strategic/business plan and priorities, including enterprise-wide talent priorities.

3. Core Workforce Planning Processes - Assess the tactical workforce planning processes:

i. Workforce analytics

• Identification of workforce factors in the internal and external environments (e.g., industry, technology, government, legislation, demographics, trends)

ii. Resource forecasting

• Ensure that the organization is able to deploy the right number of people to execute its strategy and services. Includes supply and demand forecasting

iii. Skill/role based forecasting for critical workforce segments

a. Identification and management of critical workforce segments that create the greatest impact for the organization

b. The ability to employ the right people with the right skills and competencies to support the execution of the business strategy

4. Outcomes - Assess the reporting on workforce data, the existence of plans to reconcile any gaps identified between the current workforce complement and future requirements and the integration of the results of the workforce planning activities to other Human Resources programs. (While this audit scope will review the linkages with respect to workforce planning, it will not include a review of the related Human Resources programs themselves.)

5. Enabling Systems and Practices - Assess the systems and practices that support and enable the workforce planning process. These include the Human Resources function, the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) and tools such as the Talent Scorecard, the budget and the Corporate People Plan.

6. Examples of linkages with other Human Resources programs include recruitment/staffing, onboarding/orientation, performance management, and talent movement (includes succession planning, learning and development, and career management).



Detailed audit criteria were developed and assessed in order to review each of the audit objectives.

4 APPROACH Evidence was gathered through the conduct of interviews and inspection and analysis of documents.

The primary means of information gathering was through interviews. In this regard, structured interviews were conducted to obtain insights from key stakeholders. Interview participants included Human Resources management and staff, Corporate Planning staff, along with a sample of departmental leaders and mid-managers from four unique departments: Information Technology Services, Real Estate Partnership and Development Office, Transit Services, and Emergency and Protective Services.

Information was supplemented by a review and analysis of documentation where available, including:

• Annual workforce plan

• Corporate People Plan

• FTE analysis report

• Human Resources scorecards and workforce planning metrics

• Council meeting documentation

• Department-specific evidence of mid and longer term workforce planning

• Succession Management Guide

The application of these procedures allowed the audit team to formulate a conclusion as to whether the established audit criteria were met. Standards followed for gathering evidence included ensuring information was sufficient, reliable, relevant, and useful to draw conclusions.

5 DETAILED FINDINGS, OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on information gathered, each of the audit criteria were assessed by the audit team and a conclusion for each related audit objective was determined. Results of the audit fieldwork include both observed strengths and areas for improvement concerning the workforce planning practices within the City of Ottawa and are summarized in the sections that follow.



5.1 Strengths Throughout the audit fieldwork, the audit team noted several examples of workforce planning strengths which are provided below (cross-referenced to the relevant audit objectives).

Audit Objectives

Strengths


• Based on interview discussions, roles and responsibilities related to annual workforce planning for the Human Resources function and the departments are well understood by both parties.

• A Client Relationship group within Human Resources includes Consultants who are assigned to be a liaison for all Human Resources-related matters to specific departments. This model provides departments with consistent and direct access to Human Resources expertise and engages Human Resources specialists as required depending on the nature of the departmental needs/requests.

Strategic Business Needs and Context

• The Corporate People Plan is a foundational document which provides analysis of Human Resources challenges and priorities over a time horizon aligned with the Term of Council. Broad internal and external workforce trends are identified at a “high-level” within the Corporate People Plan.

Core Workforce Planning Processes

• The City of Ottawa identified a need for longer-term succession planning, and has developed a process and enabling tools for departments to use in the creation of formal succession plans. Based on interview discussions, implementation of this process is in its early stages and varies by department.

Outcomes • Interviewees noted that department-specific initiatives have been developed to respond to mid and longer-term workforce needs (e.g., development of apprenticeship programs, encouragement of rotational assignments, etc.). Please note that this observation is based on anecdotal interview findings with a small sample of City departments.



Audit Objectives

Strengths


• Interviewees noted that Corporate Human Resources is functionally emerging as a strategic and operational business partner recognized for value added responsiveness across both transactional and strategic services.

• The Human Resources Information System (HRIS) captures workforce information that is tracked and reported on a regular basis. For example, quarterly city-wide and department-specific Talent Scorecards are issued which include important metrics and demographic information. Based on interview discussions, Business Intelligence software is being implemented to enhance analytical sophistication, timeliness and access to this information (i.e., through Manager Self-Service).

5.2 Opportunities for Improvement The audit team has identified areas where workforce planning practices and processes could be improved. Three overarching areas for improvement were noted, namely:

1. Building on emerging tools and practices, there is an opportunity for Corporate Human Resources to provide a more prescriptive and integrated approach, including standardized methods and processes for medium and longer-term workforce planning. Furthermore, Human Resources should lead integrated workforce planning needs analysis across all departments, and the development of a City-wide long-term workforce plan.

2. Organization-wide workforce segment data (e.g., with respect to critical and “non-critical” workforce segments) should be more formally identified and analyzed for value-added scenario modeling and planning purposes.

3. Value-added analysis and reporting (e.g., based on HRIS information) are required to support longer term workforce planning. More robust analytical and reporting capabilities would serve to enhance regular information provided to departments about their current and future workforce needs, targets and results.

For each of these areas for improvement, the following section provides a detailed account of audit observations and related recommendations.



5.2.1 Standardized mid and long-term workforce planning approach and methods are required to conduct integrated workforce planning

Observations Annual workforce planning is driven by the annual budget process for FTE approval. This is a standardized process that is undertaken across all City departments. Included in this process is the production of an FTE Analysis report which is produced annually to provide a current-state snapshot of the City-wide workforce (e.g., position titles, resource numbers) that is both summarized at a City-wide level, and broken down in more detail for each department. There is no forecasting component to the FTE Analysis report.

Corporate Human Resources has been noted to provide regular support to departments in planning activities through the issuance of quarterly customized Talent Scorecards (which provide a snapshot of the workforce demographics of the department), and the provision of retirement forecasts, vacancy analysis reports, and other information as requested by the departments on an ad-hoc basis. Departments then analyze and revise the data provided by Human Resources.

Interviewees noted awareness of the Succession Management Guide provided by Corporate Human Resources, but this had only been used formally by one department that had been interviewed as part of the audit (Real Estate Partnership and Development Office).

Since enterprise-wide workforce planning is not formally managed over the mid to long term, varying and inconsistent workforce planning practices were noted to exist across departments. Longer-term workforce planning activities at four specific departments were reviewed. A “high level” summary of the state of activities within each of these departments is provided in the table below:



Department Mid and Longer-Term Workforce Planning Activities Undertaken

Transit Services • Three and five year human resources plans are in the final stages of being formally documented, and the intent is that the plans will be reviewed on a regular basis. The first formal Human Resources plan (which includes a discussion of workforce planning priorities) for Transit Services is in the approval stages. The plan was reviewed and was found to include workforce planning as a core component, but did not include quantitative details of workforce needs over the medium and long term.

• The City has indicated that Transit Services is in the initial stages of Succession Management planning. The first phase is the design and implementation of an internal development program for key operational management positions. A talent review is also planned for Q1 2012 which will result in recommendations for succession planning.

Real Estate Partnership and Development Office

• A thorough succession plan has recently been developed, using the approach outlined in the Succession Management Guide provided by Human Resources, to plan for longer term managerial needs. Human Resources was noted by interviewees to have been a significant support in creating the plan. Although the plan is in draft stages, it was reviewed by the audit team and noted to be comprehensive. While the succession plan does not offer a full workforce plan, it is a step towards identifying longer-term needs and documenting these in a formal plan.

• The audit team was informed that a process is currently underway to document mid-term workforce forecasts, which would include aspects of the Service Excellence Plan (3 years) and the Succession Plan (3 years).

Information Technology (IT) Services

• There is limited formal workforce planning done beyond the annual budget requirements.

• The audit team was informed that IT has a long-term capital plan where they identify business plans such as equipment changes and technology projects. IT’s five-year Technology Roadmap was reviewed, and noted to include details of the upcoming major projects and initiatives, together with financial estimates. Although



Department Mid and Longer-Term Workforce Planning Activities Undertaken

the “people” component of the initiatives in the Roadmap was indicated to be important, it was not evident throughout the Roadmap what the workforce implications of the project would be, and if these have been captured within the financial estimates.

• Interviewees noted that specific and large projects, such as “Service Ottawa”, would typically have a project plan associated with them where FTE needs are identified as part of the project budget.

Emergency and Protective Services

• At this point in time, formal workforce plans are not completed beyond the annual requirements. However, labour force analysis is regularly undertaken to understand the supply and demand forecasts for critical workforce segments (e.g., firefighters and paramedics). The audit team reviewed an analysis of pertinent workforce data that was summarized from the talent scorecard, early stages of succession planning documentation for Fire Services, and detailed analysis of business projections which are used to forecast future workforce requirements.

• Interviewees noted that Emergency and Protective Services is in the early stages of building a Master Plan with a 10-year timeframe, which will incorporate Human Resources and workforce planning aspects.

The sample of four departments noted above is not intended to be extrapolated across the remaining City departments, but is an indication of select emerging better practices, but also the inconsistency and infancy of formal mid and long-term workforce planning practices.

The audit team noted that an overarching Corporate People Plan has been developed by the City with the leadership of Human Resources, and was endorsed by Senior Management Committee and Executive Committee, with respect to City-wide human resources priorities and action plans. In the review of the Corporate People Plan, the audit team noted:

• That the plan had been created for a four-year period (2010 to 2014), which aligns with the term of Council and includes an action plan that covers the same period.



• Of the actions noted, succession planning (which is related to workforce planning) was marked for development in 2011 and implementation in 2012/13.

• Although the Corporate People Plan indicates that succession planning is expected to be completed within each department during 2012, specific actions relating to future workforce planning needs are not specifically identified within the Corporate People Plan. However, the Corporate People Plan does identify environmental trends and issues that are both current and longer-term in nature (e.g., aging of the workforce, growth in immigration, multi-generation workforce, and technological advancements).

Although the Corporate People Plan provides a foundational element to understanding the Human Resources strategy and plans, it was noted that formal integrated enterprise-wide (i.e., cross-departmental) long-term workforce planning is not currently in place at the City of Ottawa, and is not included in the Corporate People Plan.

It is recommended that the City of Ottawa initiate the following practices to enhance its integrated and longer term workforce planning efforts and value added.

Recommendation 1 That Corporate Human Resources provide a more prescriptive and integrated approach, including standardized methods and processes, for medium and long-term workforce planning (i.e., three and five years). Fundamentals of workforce planning include: a) Matching strategic business requirements with long-term talent trends;

b) Analysis of external labour supply sources/demand influences; and,

c) Proactive planning that considers future skills and resources necessary to enable longer-term business plans.


Further to the response to Recommendation 2, HR will develop an integrated workforce planning approach and templates for use by departments by the end of Q1 2013 as part of the Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework and fiscal planning process. The integrated approach will build on current processes being used for short-term workforce planning such as the annual budget process, the succession planning process of identifying critical positions, vacancy reports, and the utilization of the metrics on the Talent Scorecard. HR will ensure integration with the Corporate Planning Framework.



Recommendation 2 That the City implement mid and longer-term (i.e., three and five year) workforce planning at the departmental level, with departments taking ownership for the development of their mid and long-term workforce plans, supported by Human Resources.


The City has adopted an integrated Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework to define strategic priorities for the four-year Term of Council. The Framework includes the development of a City Strategic Plan and departmental plans that coincide with the Term of Council. These plans will influence multi-year staffing needs for departments and impact overall workforce planning for the corporation. Human Resources will support the departments in developing their workforce plans starting in Q2 2013 with a target completion date of Q4 2013.

Recommendation 3 That Corporate Human Resources lead an integrated (i.e., City-wide) workforce planning needs analysis. This will feed into the development of a multi-year City-wide workforce plan that integrates anticipated workforce needs from across the organization. The plan should identify expected workforce requirements, together with plans for bridging any gaps (in the context of both growth and reduction/rationalization strategies) between the current state and anticipated future needs.


Working with departments, Human Resources will conduct an integrated workforce planning needs analysis as a component of the City’s integrated Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework as noted in the management response for Recommendation 2. One of the outcomes of the Framework will be departmental plans that will influence multi-year staffing needs for departments that will impact overall workforce planning for the City. The departments, as the business experts, must outline the service delivery risk areas. Human Resources will utilize the departmental input for the analysis that will identify risks and appropriate mitigation plans which will be completed by the end of Q2 2014. The analysis will provide an enterprise-wide view of workforce needs and mitigation strategies.



5.2.2 Organization-wide workforce segment data requires more formal identification and analysis

Observations Interviewees noted that there is no formal process for identifying critical workforce segments (within departments and organization-wide) and that data to assist this process comes from various sources and tends to be more anecdotal than data-driven. Critical workforce segments are the segments that have the greatest impact on the organization. They are typically highly skilled roles [and incumbents] that provide a disproportionate degree of value to the organization and are often hard to replace. Examples of sources that may be used to identify positions that are difficult-to-fill and/or retain include vacancy analysis reports, recruitment metrics, and turnover rates. The audit team did observe that the Corporate People Plan provides summary information on skills that are difficult to attract, as well as occupations that are expected to experience high levels of retirements.

A City-wide workforce needs analysis is not formally conducted, and the City does not identify and analyze workforce segmentation data beyond the analysis of retirement forecasts. It should however be noted that, although not currently mandated, interviewees informed the audit team that departments will be required to conduct formal succession planning by the end of 2012. A guide has been developed by Human Resources to aid the succession planning process within the departments. Identification of critical positions (though not necessarily critical workforce segments) is part of the succession planning process, and is expected to be completed within each department. The audit team observed one example of a completed succession plan (Real Estate Partnership and Development Office), which was noted by interviewees to be the City’s first completed succession plan.

While there was limited evidence to suggest that the City has processes in place to identify “non-critical” workforce segments, some segment-specific analysis is applied. In addition to identifying critical workforce segments, the City should have visibility on all workforce segments to support value-added scenario modeling and planning. “Non-critical” workforce segments represent the majority of the workforce complement and may include the core workforce, temporary workforce, specialists, etc., but compared to critical workforce segments, such roles are either easier to staff or have a lesser impact on organizational effectiveness.

It is recommended that Corporate Human Resources initiate the following practices to enhance the City of Ottawa’s identification and analysis of workforce segments:



Recommendation 4 That Corporate Human Resources ensure all departments identify critical positions. Critical positions may be those broader than leadership positions that are also considered to be high impact and/or difficult to fill. (“Critical” workforce segments are the segments that have the greatest impact on the organization. They are typically highly skilled roles [and incumbents] that provide a disproportionate degree of value to the organization and are often hard to replace.)


City departments are in the process of developing succession plans with support from Human Resources. A key part of this process is identifying critical positions. Departments are currently conducting the assessment and will have completed the process by Q4 2012.

Recommendation 5 That Corporate Human Resources “roll-up” the critical workforce segments identified by the departments so that the City of Ottawa has an integrated and enterprise-wide perspective on its critical workforce segments.


A database will be developed to capture a corporate-wide “roll up” of the critical positions identified by departments in 2012. The effort to create and maintain the database is currently being explored with the objective of completing the first roll-up by the end of Q2 2013.

Recommendation 6 That Corporate Human Resources analyze City-wide workforce segment data to gain insights and perspective on both “critical” and “non-critical” workforce segments to support value-added scenario modeling and planning. (“Non-critical” workforce segments represent the majority of the workforce complement, but compared to critical workforce segments, such roles are either easier to staff or have a lesser impact on organizational effectiveness.)


Currently workforce segments are considered in developing resourcing strategies and the Corporate People Plan. As noted in the response to Recommendation 5, Human Resources will have the capability to analyze “critical” and “non-critical” workforce segment data by the end of Q2 2013.



5.2.3 Value-added analysis and reporting are required to support longer-term workforce planning

Observations A City-wide talent scorecard (i.e., a table of employee metrics, a sample of which are listed below) is regularly produced and customized talent scorecards are provided to each department on a quarterly basis. The audit team reviewed the City of Ottawa integrated talent scorecard and those customized for three departments (Information Technology, Transit Services and Real Estate Partnership and Development Office). Information within the scorecards is largely based on data from the Human Resources Information System (HRIS). The information is broken down by bargaining unit, and City-wide numbers are provided for reference. The following types of data are captured in the scorecards:

• Budgeted FTE’s and vacant FTE’s • Current headcount • Various demographic metrics (e.g., age, gender, diversity, bilingual status) • Five-year retirement forecast • Annual recruitment metrics • Annual turnover data and resignation demographics • Leave of absence information • Time and attendance metrics • Safety incidents • Labour relations metrics

Although the scorecards provide comprehensive information on the current state of the workforce, they do not include a reference to strategically aligned targets. As such, departments are unable to identify where there may be gaps with respect to such targets. Incorporating meaningful targets will allow departments to identify gaps and develop initiatives and activities to address them.

It is our understanding that targets for measuring the four identified employee engagement objectives under the Corporate Planning Framework are currently under development. Objective EE2 “maintain a diverse, high-performing, client-centric workforce” is particularly relevant in this regard.

The audit team also reviewed the FTE Analysis Report for 2011. Information within the FTE Analysis Report is derived from the historical data. Information in this report has a limited ability to assist leaders in forward planning without additional value-added analysis.



Although workforce planning data is available from various sources (e.g., scorecards, FTE Analysis report, etc.), data that are used to inform workforce planning could be enhanced with more value-added analysis. For example, interviewees noted that information on external trends, root cause analysis of existing internal trends, and additional forecasting/projection-type information would be beneficial to aid longer-term workforce planning.

The City of Ottawa has a foundational contemporary Human Resources Information System. Interviewees informed the audit team that the process to extract information from the HRIS to build reports such as customized talent scorecards, or complete ad-hoc information requests is manual and time consuming. Interviewees further noted the expectation that the level of timeliness, and direct access to the information through self-service, should improve with the pending implementation of Business Intelligence software.

Building upon the current initiative to implement Business Intelligence capability, the following is recommended:

Recommendation 7 That Corporate Human Resources proactively and regularly conduct analysis of workforce planning data (both City-wide and department-specific).


Human Resources will continue to conduct analysis of workforce planning data on a regular basis. This is currently done with existing tools such as the vacancy reports, attrition reports, and the data provided on the Talent Scorecard(s). This will be supplemented with data once the formal workforce planning tools and process have been rolled out by the end of Q2 2013.

Recommendation 8 That Corporate Human Resources provide management-level reports with workforce planning analysis and insights to support longer term workforce planning.


Once the process and templates have been developed and put into operation in Q2 2013, Human Resources will develop corporate and department level reports and will work with departments to put into place mitigation strategies for critical positions.



Recommendation 9 That Corporate Human Resources define and clarify a metrics framework for workforce planning with departmental management being responsible for determining applicable targets. The City should then be in a position to have access to related workforce planning performance reports, including variance analysis for practices such as position management, vacancy management, staffing, turnover/attrition planning and productivity analysis.


Many of the data/reports noted are currently provided to managers on a regular basis. As part of the development of the workforce planning framework and processes, Human Resources will work with the Corporate Business Services branch to develop a metrics framework by the end of Q1 2013, with an approach for departments to develop targets to maintain consistency with the Balanced Scorecard approach being used in the Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Framework.

6 CONCLUSION Building on contextual needs and emerging human resources management practices, there is an opportunity for the City of Ottawa to leverage existing strengths and to:

• Provide a more prescriptive and integrated approach, including standardized methods and processes for medium and longer-term workforce planning;

• More formally identify and analyze organization-wide workforce segment data (i.e., related to critical and “non-critical” workforce segments); and,

• Provide more value-added analysis and reporting to support longer term workforce planning.

7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We wish to express our appreciation for the cooperation and assistance afforded the audit team by management.

audit of the human resources master plan 2011 vÉrification...

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